By Glenn Adams,Associated Press Writer

AUGUSTA – Some customers who see a handwritten sign at the counter of Broadway Variety in South Portland express shock when they learn that cigarette taxes are doubling from $1 to $2 per pack as of Monday, giving Maine one of the nation’s highest cigarette taxes.

“A lot of people say, I’ll have to quit,’ said Justin West, the store manager. West doesn’t think they will because nicotine is so addictive, but a health activist who supported the tax increase thinks differently.

“Literally thousands of Maine people will see this as a last step to make a successful effort to stop smoking,” said Ed Miller, executive director of the American Lung Association of Maine. “This is a great day for Maine.”

While the cigarette tax hike is scheduled to kick in after the weekend, most other state laws enacted during this year’s six-month legislative session were to take effect today.

The laws impose new rules for drivers and snowmobilers, provide new protections for consumers, take further steps to curb drug and alcohol abuse – and playfully salute the “spirit and courage” of Mainers by proclaiming former patent medicine Moxie the state soft drink.

Smokers aren’t the only ones who will see taxes and fees go up. Marriage license fees rise from $20 to $30, burial permit fees jump a dollar to $5, and vital records fees also rise.

Fines are increased for furnishing alcohol to minors under 18, and machines that vaporize alcohol so it can be inhaled through the lungs are banned. Youths under 18 are also barred from tobacco specialty shops unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.

In an effort to curb methamphetamine, a new law imposes restrictions on the sale of solid pills of cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine, a common ingredient of the street drug.

On the highways, a new law makes it illegal to pass a vehicle when the road is painted with an unbroken center line or solid double lines. A third drunken driving offense is upgraded to a Class C crime, meaning violators face fines exceeding $1,000.

Motorists who jazz up their rides with lights should note a new law that restricts auxiliary lighting on cars. Lights must be white if they’re on the front of the vehicle, amber if on the side and amber or red if in the rear. The beam must not blink, rotate or flash, and under-vehicle lighting is verboten on public roadways.

Auxiliary lighting, such as lights that pulsate with the beats of booming music, is especially popular with young motorists. But police, who call blinking lights a safety hazard, have been frustrated by the ambiguity of existing state regulations, said Lt. Chris Grotton of the state police traffic division.

“It really was not clear what you could and could not do,” said Grotton. The aftermarket lighting industry first proposed a new law, and worked with state officials to develop the legislation that was enacted, said Grotton.

A new law makes failure to register a motor vehicle within 30 days of moving to Maine a traffic violation with a maximum fine of $50 – and more after 150 days.

Also on the highways, a new law allows charitable nonprofits to stage roadblocks to collect donations from passing motorists, provided they have local approval.

Maine consumers get new protection from abuses known as “steering” and “skimming.”

Insurance companies can no longer imply to customers who have claims in auto crashes that they must have repairs done at designated shops. Also outlawed is “skimming,” in which electronic scanners or encoders are used to lift personal financial data from credit or debit cards.

Hidden “dormancy” fees can no longer be charged on gift cards whose recipients do not use them right away.

Restrictions that already apply to automated telephone calling devices now apply to faxed ads. Maine numbers can only be dialed on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

To pay for public awareness programs to prevent exposure to toxic lead-based paint, a new law hits paint manufacturers with fees equivalent to 25 cents per gallon.

Workers get an option to use their existing vacation or sick time to care for ill family members.

Businesses also get some added protections. People who use camcorders to tape movies in theaters can be detained by movie operators, under a new law that broadens an existing law that allows merchants to detain shoplifters.

Owners of businesses and homes who install solar hot water and energy systems are now eligible for rebates.

In public safety issues, more sex offenders have to become listed in the state’s registry. The law, which currently applies to those convicted since January 1992, now goes back to January 1982. The law also increases penalties for failing to register as a sex offender.

Taser guns, which fire an electrical current, wave or beam, cannot be used to disable another person unless it’s to protect a person’s home.

Crossbows, weapons that date back to the Middle Ages and are now increasingly popular with hunters, can be used for big game hunting during firearms season for the first time in Maine since 1856. Hunters also get the green light to use electronic moose-calling devices.

Any hunter who’s made it to age 100 gets a freebie from the state: a complimentary any-deer permit. And two free moose permits can be given to any nonprofit that provides hunting and fishing adventures for terminally ill people under 21 years old.

Snowmobile season is still a few months down the road, but a law that is now on the books requires registration of equipment used on Maine trails and sets one-time $33 registration fees. Another new law sets fines of $100 to $500 for operating a power sled to the left of the center of a trail at turns and grades.

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